If Ross Chastain matches his car number to his ranking number, it would be phenomenal indeed. Riley Herbst actually matches both numbers, but it is hardly the same thing. The No. 35 23XI Racing driver currently ranks 35th in the Cup Series championship standings. Herbst’s rookie season under Michael Jordan’s wing has hardly been a smooth ride so far, with a bizarre incident marking his recent outing.
Last weekend, NASCAR ventured to Mexico City for its first international points-paying race in 67 long years. The pomp associated with this legendary occasion also had huge hints of chaos. Several crashes and mishaps featured the Viva Mexico 250, including one baffling one entailing Riley Herbst.
Riley Herbst’s rookie move baffles insider
Well, there are normal rookie moves and there are downright confusing ones. Riley Herbst’s recent action falls in the latter category, unfortunately. Heading to the Mexico City race, Michael Jordan’s rookie driver did not hold many expectations anyway. Herbst’s twin Xfinity victories in 2024 had impressed Jordan and Hamlin. That is how Herbst got to drive the No. 35 car, a homage to Jordan’s number while playing for the Scottsdale Scorpions in the 1994 Arizona Fall League. But so far, Herbst has not been able to match his 6-time NBA champion team owner’s winning legacy. As if zero top tens across 16 Cup Series races were not enough, Herbst also put up a silly maneuver in Mexico City.
During the Viva Mexico 250, Riley Herbst was performing fairly well, as Eric Estepp observed in a recent YouTube video. Estepp said, “Riley Herbst qualified pretty good and raced inside the top 15 for most of the day. He earned a couple of stage points, I believe…Looking like a really solid performance for the rookie when he got turned by William Byron, got spun out just before the stadium section. That sucks.”
Riley Herbst
But the sad encounter with Byron was overshadowed by Riley Herbst‘s own antics. It almost landed him a scuffle with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Estepp continued, “But as sucky as that moment was, Riley was this close to making it so much worse when he pulled onto incoming traffic. Ricky Stenhouse had to take evasive action. I’m cringing even watching it in replay form.”
What made Eric Estepp’s jaws drop further was that it was nothing new. Riley Herbst, a three-time Xfinity Series winner, had messed up in a similar manner in his familiar ground. Estepp said, “That was insane. I don’t know what Riley was doing there…A couple of years ago, he was doing kinda the same thing in the Xfinity Series. He’s a repeat offender now, needs to have better awareness when he’s facing the wrong direction on the racetrack.” Estepp extended a little empathy towards Herbst but limited it. “I don’t know if the spotters have a great view of that section of the track right before they get into the stadium…That’s the only kind of excuse I can give him. But either way…somebody needs to talk to him.”
This baffling maneuver in Mexico was only one part of Riley Herbst’s faltering season. Yet despite the drooping stats, his team owner has faith in him.
Hoping against hope for Herbst
Well, the 23XI Racing driver is facing the rookie blues at present. Besides a string of finishes outside the top 15 or the top 20, Riley Herbst also cost his team a fortune. NASCAR’s inaugural in-season tournament features 32 drivers. These racers were fixed after the Nashville race and only four full-time drivers fell out. Among those unlucky racers are Shane Van Gisbergen, Cole Custer, Cody Ware, and, unfortunately, Riley Herbst. Having one fewer contender in the race for the lucrative prize dealt a $1 Million blow to Michael Jordan’s team. Moreover, Corey Heim the 23XI Racing development driver who’s been turning heads in the Truck Series, is adding more pressure to Herbst. Heim is waiting in the wings as a potential replacement.
Despite these depressing developments, Riley Herbst still carries faith among his team owners. Denny Hamlin reassured the media at Charlotte that Herbst will soon go for it. He said, “He’s going to be a Sunday Cup guy. There’s no doubt in my mind about it. He’s going to be with 23XI for the long haul…[Heim is] doing everything [he’s been] asked to. He’s in the building multiple times per week, working on his craft, continuing to get better, waiting on the opportunity. And he knows he’s got a long-term future with 23XI Racing, and he’s happy with that. And he’s happy with the development process that we have set out for him in the future.”
The reassurance in Hamlin’s words may be comforting, but Riley Herbst is on the edge. The rookie driver needs to prove his worth soon enough, so let us see when he will be able to do that.
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